


Party Crasher

by ereshai



Series: Various Prompt Fills [46]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Getting Together, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 09:39:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12578876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ereshai/pseuds/ereshai
Summary: Phil ain't afraid of no ghost, especially when that 'ghost' is dressed in a sheet with faded purple stripes.





	Party Crasher

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween!

“One of these things is not like the others,” Phil murmured, his eyes on the person who had just walked into his living room.

Nick, standing next to him, snorted and took a drink from the glass in his hand. He was wearing a tuxedo print shirt, his only nod to the fact that this was ‘a Halloween party, Nick, I throw one every year, you had time to get an actual costume’.

“What do you think, Cheese? Wrong address or is he casing the joint?”

The fact that the person they were discussing was wearing a sheet with ragged holes cut for eyes had nothing to do with their suspicion – all of Phil’s guests were in costumes of some kind. It was the fact that Phil knew exactly who was attending his party and what costumes they were wearing, and none of them was a ghost. Though it didn’t help that the sheet was patterned with faded purple stripes – obviously it had been made at the last minute.

“I’ll check,” Phil said abruptly, setting his glass down on the table beside him.

He and Nick hadn’t been the only ones to notice the interloper; heads turned to follow Phil’s progress across the room, but no one stopped him for a chat. Others were keeping a discreet eye on the ghost, who was now standing by the wall, shifting uncomfortably. As Phil got closer, he stopped and straightened up.

“Hey,” Ghost said.

Phil tilted his head slightly. One word wasn’t nearly enough to go on, but somehow the voice was familiar. An out-of-town friend come to surprise him? “Did you get lost on your way to the other side?” Phil asked mildly.

Ghost chuckled. “Nah. That’s as easy as crossing the road.” He cleared his throat. “Or the hallway,” he added ruefully.

Hallway? “Oh! You’re-“ He stopped; he didn’t actually know the man’s name.

“Your neighbor, yeah. Um, Clint Barton, party crasher.”

“Phil Coulson,” Phil answered automatically. “Why- Wait, let’s move into…” He looked around. He didn’t want to have this conversation in front of everyone, but privacy was in short supply. The bedroom was out of the question. That left- “…the kitchen.”

He led the way to the kitchen, ignoring his friends who were pointedly not paying attention (except for Nick, who was watching them with a raised brow). Thankfully, no one was in the room when they got there.

“Would you like something to drink?” Phil went to the fridge and waited for an answer, his hand on the handle.

Clint yanked the sheet off, revealing attractively ruffled hair and a sheepish smile on his face. He was wearing a white t-shirt that stretched distractingly over his chest and shoulders and a pair of worn jeans. He stepped up to the island in the middle of the room. “No thanks.”

Phil leaned his hip against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. “So, Clint-“

“I’m sorry,” Clint said in a rush. “I shouldn’t have invited myself to your party.”

“Why did you?”

Clint’s cheeks went pink. “Uh, well… I… It seemed like a good idea at the time?”

“Crashing a private party consisting primarily of agents from various government agencies seemed like a good idea?”

Clint winced. “I didn’t know about the government agencies thing. I guess that’s why I was getting the stink eye from everyone, huh?”

Phil nodded. He tamped down a surge of fondness at the ‘aw, shucks’ look on Clint’s face. This was no time to let his growing attraction for his neighbor distract him.

“I should go.”

“Not yet. You still haven’t told me why you’re here.” Phil really hoped Clint hadn’t actually been casing his apartment.

Clint dragged one of the stools closer and sat down. “It’s stupid,” he began. He was looking everywhere but at Phil.

“Tell me anyway,” Phil said gently.

“I, uh… um…” Clint folded his arms on the counter and hid his face in the crook of his elbow. He said something, but it was too muffled for Phil to understand him.

“Excuse me?”

Clint lifted his head a little. “I wanted to find out more about you.”

Phil blinked. “Really?”

“We pass each other coming and going all the time, and we say hi, and you have this great smile, and your eyes are… And you’re kind of the whole package, you know? But I never get a chance to talk to you or ask you your name and when I saw you had a costume party going on I thought ‘Hey, you should go over there and maybe talk to him for once,’ and I cut up my oldest sheet and then I got here and I felt stupid and now I feel really stupid. So I should go.”

When Phil didn’t respond, Clint slid off the stool. He ran his hand through his hair, then hooked his ghost sheet with his foot, kicking it up high enough to grab. “I’ll, uh, yeah. Bye.”

“Clint, wait,” Phil said before Clint had taken more than a couple of steps.

“Yeah?” Clint stopped, his back to Phil, his head turned just enough for Phil to see his profile.

“I’d like to get to know you, too.”

Clint turned to face him. “Yeah?” There was the beginning of a smile on his face.

“What you said, about a great smile and,” Phil waved a hand at him, “being the whole package. I feel the same. About you. And I probably wouldn’t have crashed a party at your place, but I have been tempted to use my access to various databases to find out your name, so…” He shrugged. “We’re equally stupid, I think.”

Clint rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, sounds like it. So we could…”

“Go on a date?” Phil suggested.

Clint nodded. “When-”

Nick appeared in the doorway. “We’re heading out, Cheese.”

“What?” Phil checked his watch. “But it’s only nine-“

“Sounds like you’ve got something going on.” Nick gave Clint a speculative look. “Unlike my friend here, I have no problem using whatever means are at my disposal to find out whatever I need to know, should the occasion arise.”

Clint looked wildly between Phil and Nick. “O-kay?”

“Just so we understand each other,” Nick said with a nod, then turned to Phil. “See you at work tomorrow.”

Phil waved reflexively and then Nick was gone. In the other room, Phil’s friends were talking in low voices. They heard the front door open followed by a chorus of good-byes. Then the door closed and it was silent.

“Your friend is scary,” Clint said. “So...maybe we could go on that date now?”

Phil blinked. “Sure. You know that diner down the street?”

“Maxine’s? They have awesome grilled cheese.”

“Yeah. Let me get changed and we’ll go.” Phil plucked at his costume. The tights were more revealing than he liked, but the cape helped with that. A little.

“Hey, no, keep it on. I’ll put on a costume too. A better one than this.” He indicated the balled up sheet in his hands. “I mean, it’s Halloween, right?”

“I’m not sure…”

Clint grinned and batted his eyes. “I’ve always wanted to date Superman.”

Phil laughed. “Fine. But only if you get dressed up, too.”

“Of course.” He wrinkled his brows in over-exaggerated thoughtfulness. “You think I could pull off Lois Lane? Or is it too soon for a couple’s costume?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Do you have a prompt? Submit it to [Imagine ClintCoulson](https://imagineclintcoulson.tumblr.com/message).


End file.
